And unless you read corporate press releases or work in a corporate IT shop, you probably didn’t even know Cisco made such a gadget. You didn’t miss anything, though, because the Cius is now a (very small) bit of history.

Today Cisco announced on its corporate blog that it would no longer continue to develop the Cius tablet. Cisco has basically run afoul of the growing “bring your own device” trend at corporate IT shops. And when employees bring their own tablets and smartphones, well, most of the devices have the familiar logo of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Apple has supported the trend by paying a lot of attention to security issues and making it easier for corporate shops to incorporate the once-troublesome devices into company wide networks.

The Cisco blog post notes that the company plans to “double-down” on its Jabber and WebEx software products.

Cisco’s shares are trading up 0.02% today at $16.42 in a 52-week range of $13.30-$21.30.

Paul Ausick

The market value is still the largest of any public company at $501 billion, but the market value is now down almost $100 billion from the actual peak.  We have reported on two recent occasions how weak iPhone sales projections from analysts seem to be the big concern.  Both reports indicate that the iPad will save the day, and the latest earnings report showed that China really saved the day (with purchases rather than cheap labor).

The consensus analyst target on Apple is now above $708.00 and that implies another 32% upside if the analysts are right.  Some analyst calls even target $1,000 (and higher) for Apple stock.  At that rate, it becomes cheaper to buy Apple’s products than it does to buy 1 share of Apple stock.

Maybe this is the peak valuation concern coming into play as well.  Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), which ultimately may have saved Apple with a Gates-led investment, reached up close to the $600 billion or so at the peak in 2000.  Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) also reached about $350 billion.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) peaked somewhere around the $475 billion valuation.  Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) also peaked out above $500 billion during the energy bubble run-up, but that has not been seen since and the current market value is about $385 billion or so.  The common theme is that all of these values have come crashing down.

There is one thing to consider here in the ’mega-cap valuations and that is that Exxon Mobil is the only stock that had a low valuation like Apple still has.  In fact, Apple now trades at only about 10-times the Fiscal 2013 earnings estimates now that it has pulled back over $100.  Its multiple is even less than that if you back out the $100+ billion treasure trove that the company has.

The focus ahead has to be on Apple TV.  iPad and iPhone sales may only be able to go so far, and now it will be up to the new devices.  One concern we have is that the story of the Mac is a lost one.  Honestly, when was the last time you heard anyone focused on Mac sales in the last few months?  It is all about iPads and iPhones, which are actually cannibalizing what would have been Mac sales, and the talk remains around Apple TV.

One issue to consider is that certain funds have had to lighten up in Apple shares.  The large institutional sales orders have not been very evident in recent months, but the reality is that Apple started to become too heavily weighted for many non-index fund managers.  To prove this in the NASDAQ 100, the PowerShares QQQ (NASDAQ: QQQ) has close to an 18% weighting in Apple.  We have seen one estimate that only about one-third of the share selling was tied to large funds and hedge funds, although that no longer be the case since that data is 45 days old (or longer).

What seems to be at work is simply a change of heart.  The stock was weak ahead of May and the stock was still above $600 as recently as April 27.  Still, the psychology of “Sell in May and go away!” has been exaggerated due to the woes of Europe, the slowing growth of the BRIC nations, and weakening U.S. economic data.

Another concern may be that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is being favorably treated going into the Windows 8 launch later this year.  All of the companies in technology are talking this up.  It is even possible that investors are unloading shares just so they can buy up Facebook shares after the IPO on Friday.

Apple is not expensive at all.  The question is whether or not it can be maintained.  When you are paying 10-times for future earnings today, that implies that you are paying for earnings out about ten years on a static basis.  All that is happening after the massive run that has been seen over the last decade is that the growth rate cannot be maintained indefinitely.

This sentiment won’t last forever, but the focus is elsewhere for the time being.  Will Apple hit $500 or even lower?  Maybe.  As long as the market does not really tank and as long as we do not enter a second recession, the consensus is that Apple’s stock still has a lot of room to rise after the dust settles.

JON C. OGG

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 33 points to 12,598.63 (-0.26%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 20 points (-0.68%) to 2,874.04, and the S&P 500 fell -0.44% or nearly 6 points to 1,324.81.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) raised to ‘overweight’ at Barclays; Patriot Coal Corp. (NYSE: PCX) cut to ‘market perform’ at FBR; Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan; and SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) raised to ‘hold’ at Canaccord Genuity.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: 8×8 Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT) is down -1.5% at $3.86; Chico’s FAS Inc. (NYSE: CHS) is up 4.2% at $15.28; Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) is down -3.1% at $74.23 (more coverage here); Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE: EXP) is down -5.2% at $33.13; LiveDeal Inc. (NASDAQ: LIVE) is up 5.9% at $6.14; and Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is up 0.7% at $55.49 (more coverage here).

On Thursday we are scheduled to get earnings from Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT), Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR), E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NASDAQ: DANG), GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), Jinkosolar Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: JKS), Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST), Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD), Teekay Corp. (NYSE: TK), and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) is down -19.2% at $26.92. The retailer absolutely failed on quarterly results. More coverage here.

Rosetta Genomics Ltd. (NASDAQ: ROSG) is up 263% at $5.88. The medical test making firm will have one of its tests covered by Medicare. There was also a 1-for-15 reverse stock split. More coverage here.

Abercrombie & Fitch Inc. (NYSE: ANF) is down -13.7% at $39.21 after posting a new 52-week low of $38.26 earlier today. The teen retailer badly missed estimates last night.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
• 10:00 a.m. – Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey
• 10:00 a.m. – E-commerce retail sales
• 10:00 a.m. – Leading indicators
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
• 4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

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Paul Ausick

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) Cut to Hold at Argus.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) Raised to Neutral at Citigroup.

Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

China Life Insurance (NYSE: LFC) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DNKN) Raised to Buy with $38 target at Argus.

Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) maintained Neutral but cut target to $6 from $8 at Credit Suisse.

Hatteras Financial Corporation (NYSE: HTS) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.

Novellus Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.

Patriot Coal Corporation (NYSE: PCX) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.

ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) maintained Neutral and cut target to $2.00 at Credit Suisse.

SandRidge Energy, Inc. (NYSE: SD) Raised to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

Solazyme, Inc. (NASDAQ: SZYM) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Texas Capital Bancshares (NASDAQ: TCBI) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Textainer Group Holdings Limited (NYSE: TGH) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.

Weatherford International Ltd. (NYSE: WFT) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox.  We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

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JON C. OGG

ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) Raised to Market Perform at Bernstein.

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

Chesapeake Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE: CHKM) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Reiterated Buy with $24 target at Argus.

Cost Plus Inc. (NASDAQ: CPWM) Cut to Neutral at Wedbush.

Dolby Labs, Inc. (NYSE: DLB) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) Cut to Market Perform at Leerink Swann.

JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ: JDSU) Raised to Buy at UBS.

Linn Energy, LLC (NASDAQ: LINE) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) Maintained Buy but cut target to $90 at Argus.

Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Cut to Hold at ThinkEquity.

Regency Energy Partners LP (NYSE: RGP) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Tempur-Pedic International Inc. (NYSE: TPX) Raised to Strong Buy at Raymond James.

Tesoro Logistics LP (NYSE: TLLP) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA) Cut to Hold at Needham.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: VRTX) Cut to Outperform at RBC.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox.  We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

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JON C. OGG

According to data from the NYSE and Nasdaq, for the period that ended April 30, shares sold short in Sprint-Nextel (NYSE: S) rose 132% t0 139.3 million. The wireless company’s prospects have been burned by the success of AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ). And Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse agreed to reset his compensation for last year because of shareholder objections about its size.

Shares sold short in Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) rose 28% to 67.2 million. The value of the stock is down by nearly half because of a scandal that has engulfed CEO Aubrey McClendon and his board. McClendon has been taking investments in wells drilled by the company.

Shares short in Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) were higher by 31% to 38.8 million as worries that new CEO Meg Whitman will not be able to repair the firm’s operations soon.

The short interest in Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) rose 25% to 28.7 million. The telecom equipment maker has posted a string of losses as the demand from its cable and telephone corporate clients has fallen.

Shares short in Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) were up 17% to 50.5 million. The company just posted an earnings forecast that drove its shares down on extraordinary volume.

The short interest in new IPO Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA) was up 51% to 42 million. The market has started to doubt whether the company’s products are unique enough for its to fend off competition.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) warns about the economy as it releases earnings. (Reuters)

Regulators may make mortgage lenders charge a flat fee to help home buyers. (WSJ)

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) will give less marketing support to Lipitor as it moves to a generic form. (WSJ)

The Post Office backs away from a plan to close 3,700 rural offices. (WSJ)

Fannie Mae posts its best results since its bailout and made $2.7 billion. (WSJ)

The European Union delays a bailout payment to Greece as political turmoil there rises. (WSJ)

Spain may get a break on budget deficits from EU partners, who will give it more leeway to recover. (WSJ)

Weak imports raise China’s April trade deficit. (WSJ)

Chrysler will try to improve its battered quality reputation. (WSJ)

Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LMCA) increases its share of Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) as it tries to gain control. (WSJ)

New Facebook government documents show it is weak in mobile ads. (WSJ)

Corporate borrowing makes the debt crisis in Spain worse. (NYT)

Third Point insists that Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) name an interim CEO. (NYT)

News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS) doubles its share buyback to $10 billion. (FT)

MetroPCS (NYSE: PCS) may tie up with T-Mobile. (FT)

Sony predicts a profit this year. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

The company traditionally does not give guidance until its conference call, which will be held later this afternoon.

Gross margins for the quarter were higher, at 62% compared with 61.3% last quarter, and cost of sales rose 5%, compared with a rise of 7% last quarter. Cisco finished the quarter with about $6.5 billion cash and equivalents and long-term debt of around $16.3 billion, both only slightly different from last year’s figures.

In our preview of Cisco’s earnings earlier today, we noted that the stock has been very weak for the past month and the third-quarter results are not going to change that. Shares are down about 3% in the after-market, at $18.25 in a 52-week range of $13.30 to $21.30. Beware a larger swing once guidance is given.

Paul Ausick

Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.47 EPS and $11.57 billion in revenues.  Guidance is not offered usually until the conference call but the estimates for the current (July) quarter are $0.49 EPS and $11.99 billion in revenue.

The first real inference today is that Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) and Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU) both have slid lower since their earnings.  Juniper looked like it was a stabilization after a really bad drop, but the initial stock pop higher was sold off immediately and its stock price is now under where it was before earnings.  Alcatel-Lucent is now under $1.50 after recently giving a poor earnings report that brings up relevance into question.

Our main reason for putting Cisco as the lynchpin for technology is that it often acts as a preview to Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) as the other off-quarter earnings from the technology leadership.  Oracle has historically been more of a software play but the comparison is still crucial.  Cisco grabs a different part of the enterprise technology spending dollars, but weakness in one may mean weakness in another as technology officers can push orders out further on the horizon.

Cisco has also been in the midst of a restructuring that seems to be mostly complete.  The problem is that shares have slid from recently being above $20.00 down to $18.70.  Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target of $22.58 and the 52-week range is $13.30 to $21.30. The company’s market cap today is right at $100 billion.

The stock chart may hold the keys to the post-earnings reaction after today.  With a price of $18.70, the 200-day moving average is down at $18.14 and the 50-day moving average is up at $19.96.  In short, Cisco had recovered handily off of its lows in the last year but its stock has been very weak for the last month and $20.15 to $20.20 acted as very strong resistance on the chart throughout April after shares slid from the peak of just over $21.00.

Options traders appear to be braced for a move of up to about $0.75 or so in either direction based upon the speculative call and put options pricing.

Just one suggestion for Cisco not pertaining its earnings call: the investor relations site takes far too long to navigate.  Still, the stock trades at only about 10-times current earnings expectations.  Does that make Cisco a value stock in its turnaround, or is Cisco’s turnaround just a value trap.

We would note one strength from the last quarter… gross margin rose to 61.3% from 60.2% and the cost of sales rose by more than 7%.

Keep in mind that Cisco’s earnings will prelude an investor day presentation by Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) on May 17, 2012 and it will also prelude the Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) earnings report currently penciled in around May 23, 2012.

JON C. OGG

The technology sector needs for Cisco to show that the warnings of spotty spending a month ago were just contextual.  Does Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) have much to do with Cisco?  Technically not a thing if you just use common sense.  The reality is different though.  Apple remains the tech darling of Wall Street but its shares have pulled back and have gotten down almost as low as they were before the huge earnings gap-up in the last couple of weeks.

The first two issues to address are Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) and Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU).  Juniper turned in an earnings report that looked like it was offering a stabilization to a really bad drop, but its stock popped up and then immediately pulled back and the stock is now under where it was before earnings.  Alcatel-Lucent just gave poor results this earnings season and its stock is back under $1.50 per ADR and is floundering as it tries to find some sense of remaining relevant outside of Europe.

The real issue here is Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) with Cisco.  Many analysts do not compare Oracle and Cisco enough because up until lately Oracle was more of a software play.  With Sun under its belt it has datacenter exposure but even if Oracle was to jettison its physical equipment the comparison is still crucial to understand.  While Cisco is a very different part of the enterprise technology dollars to be spent, weakness in one may mean weakness in another as technology officers can push orders out further on the horizon.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) is now more and more of a competitor with Cisco as well, even though the company was trying to get rid of the PC unit.  By competing in the datacenter, the former partners now compete.  H-P is also an off-calendar quarterly reporting company and its shares are back down to almost $23.00 and close to a 52-week low.

There is also the old ties to Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) and Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK), although this is more historic than present day.  Both companies remain highly challenged and we suspect that their futures will both remain challenged regardless of what Cisco says in its conference call.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSH) recently kept the pace of other IT-outsourcing outfits by warning about a weak IT-spending climate but it was hard to not notice that some of the more fresh weakness was noted as being in North America.  Cisco could easily be in a different bucket here, but we did see this trend as almost unified in the outsourcing segment.

Perhaps the biggest relevance is International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM).  IBM’s services backlog was slightly lower but IBM is still maintaining its long-term goals of $20.00 in earnings per share.  The stock is still within 5% of all-time highs and it has recently juiced up its dividend more than expected.

Cisco is also the last major tech report before Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) updates investors this Thursday.  It has only been about three weeks since Intel’s earnings report and we are only 24 hours or so since the chip and processor giant announced a dividend hike of its own.  Shares of Intel are now off almost $2.00 from the high of $29.27 and the consensus price target is $29.72.

Cisco shares are back under the $19.00 mark after having been at $20.00 as recently as May 1, 2012 and having been at $21.00 as recently as April 3, 2012.  The 52-week trading range is $13.30 to $21.30 and the consensus price target from Thomson Reuters is $22.58.

The Thomson Reuters estimates for Cisco are $0.47 EPS and $11.57 billion in revenue.  Cisco usually offers guidance in the conference call rather than in the press release and those estimates are $0.49 EPS and $11.99 billion in sales for the quarter ahead.  Keep in mind that Cisco trades at a mere 10.2-times its expected earnings for the fiscal year-end of July 2012.

As far as Cisco on the stock charts, this has been very weak and the 50-day moving average was up above at $19.00 and the 200-day moving average was lower around $18.13.  Both of those figures are likely to be a couple of cents different on Wednesday ahead of earnings.

A more detailed preview will appear Wednesday morning ahead of the formal Cisco earnings report showing expectations for cash, margins, options trading, stock charts, and a final revised set of earnings estimates.

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JON C. OGG